The Parts of Speech

After learning the alphabet, the next step is to devise coherent sentences. The rhyme below categorizes each of the parts of speech, giving a clear example of each grammatical term. The rhyme dates back to 1855 and was written by educators David B. Tower and Benjamin F. Tweed:nnA NOUN'S the name of any thing;nAs, school or garden, hoop, or swing.nnADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun;nAs, great, small pretty, white, or brown.nnThree of these words we often seenCalled ARTICLES -- a, an, and the.nnInstead of nouns the PRONOUNS stand;nJohn's head, his face, my arm, your hand.nnVERBS tell of something being done;nAs, read, write, spell, sing, jump, or run.nnHow things are done the ADVERBS tell;nAs, slowly, quickly, ill, or well.nnThey also tell us where and when;nAs, here, and there, and now, and then.nnA PREPOSITION stands beforenA NOUN; as, in, or through, a door.nnCONJUNCTIONS sentences unite;nAs, kittens scratch and puppies bite.nnThe INTERJECTION shows surprisennnnA different rhyme called "The Parts of Speech" is similarly concise as a reminder of the different components of the English language. The origin of these verses is unknown.nnEvery name is called a noun,nAs field and fountain, street and town.nnIn place of noun the pronoun stands, As he and she can clap their hands.nnThe adjective describes a thing,nAs magic wand and bridal ring.nnThe verb means action, something done --nTo read, to write, to jump, to run.nnHow things are done, the adverbs tell,nAs quickly, slowly, badly, well.nnThe preposition shows relation,nAs in the street, or at the station.nnConjunctions join, in many ways,nSentences, words, or phrase and phrase.nnThe interjection cries out, "Hark!nI need an exclamation mark!"nnThrough poetry, we learn how eachnOf these make up the Parts of Speech.nnnWhat's a Preposition?nnTo further remember the function of a preposition, insert any word into the following sentence:nnThe squirrel ran______the tree.nnFor example, over, under, after, around, through, up, on, to, from, by, and so forth. Other prepositions include in, at, for, between, among, and of.nnnWhat's a Conjunction?nnConjunctions are words used to join two independent clauses. Most people are careless with punctuation, especially these days when shortcuts in e-mails and text messages have become commonplace. But this FAN BOYS mnemonic helps if you want to remember the coordinating conjunctions, of which the most important are and, or, and but.nnFAN BOYSnFor, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, SonnnThe Rules of PunctuationnnCecil Hartley's poem from Principles of Punctuation or The Art of Pointing (1818) reveals the old-fashioned way that people were advised on how to interpret punctuation when reading sentences out loud.nnThe stops point out, with truth, the time of pausenA sentence doth require at ev'ry clause.nAt ev'ry comma, stop while one you count;nAt semicolon, two is the amount;nA colon doth require the time of three;nThe period four, as learned men agree.nnThough it's not a verse that most grammarians would encourage these days, it does give you an idea of the difference between each type of punctuation mark.nnOn CommasnnA cat has claws at the ends of its paws.nA comma's a pause at the end of a clause.nnOn ColonsnnThe English teacher and prominent lexicographer H.W. Fowler creates a useful visual image of the job done by the colon, which he says, "delivers the goods that have been invoiced in the preceding words."nnOn the Exclamation PointnnThe following anonymously authored seventeenth-century rhyme appeared in Treatise of Stops, Points, or Pauses, and of Notes Which Are Used in Writing and Print (1680):nnThis stop denotes our Suddain Admiration,nOf what we Read, or Write, or giv Relation,nAnd is always cal'd an Exclamation.nnnThe above is an excerpt from the book I Before E (Except after C): Old-School Ways to Remember Stuff by Judy Parkinson, Published by The Reader's Digest Association Inc.; April 2008;$14.95 US; 978-0-7621-0917-3nnA Reader's Digest book published in association with Michael O'Mara Books Limited. Copyright © Michael O'Mara Books Limited 2008.n